Is it Really Over?
by madamwolf
Summary: Starts where the movie left off. What happened to Brenda, Bobby, Doug, Catherine... and Beast. I forgot to add this in the story: I do not own Hills Have Eyes.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** This is a sequal-ish thing to the movie, not gonna be long only a few chapters (but that is what I always say and it never is) of aftermath and it will include the Goggles come back thing in case you're wondering. This is my first Hills Have Eyes fic so I'm sorry it people are OOC and if they are... oh well. This whole chapter thing is gonna be from Brenda's POV, that's not a sure thing for the rest though, I tend to switch it around a lot, but don't worry I always make it clear whose POV it is. So review and tell me if I should continue to it or not, and trust me it will be full of angst.

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Brenda looked at the ruins of the trailer she and her brother, Bobby, had just destroyed. She let out a shaky breath as her gaze briefly wandered over the dead mutant she just killed, granted he was dying anyway but she had to take some anger out on something and she would rather it be that freak then her brother. But now he was walking her away, where would they go now? They did have a few things in the car, some water, a little food from the ride up but nothing much.

She rubbed her eye as a tear began to fall. Her sister was dead. Her father was dead. Her mother was dead. Now Doug had gone to find Catherine, he promised he'd be back but he wasn't. He was probably dead... like everyone else she cared about. She would never admit it but he was a good guy, a little bit of a jerk sometimes, but a good guy, a good father and a good brother-in-law. He did look at other women at times, she saw him do it but he would always go back to her sister, and besides what man doesn't look anyway?

She was thankfully for one thing though, that her brother was with her. Of course she would rather it her whole family was there and they were still in that stupid car going down the "back road" and having the very dull and boring "adventure", she would give anything to be doing that right now. But this was that hand she was dealt with, it sucked beyond belief but this was what she had to live with.

She tried not to think about what they were walking into as Bobby began leading her away from the burning rubble and over to the car to grab some water but it was hard. Looking back one last time she saw him. Her vision was blurry but it was him.

Doug.

He was walking just over a hill to where she could see him. She pushed herself away from Bobby and he gave her a questioning look before he looked up to see what she was looking at. His eyes went wide when he saw Doug.

Brenda wasn't there to see it though, she ran up the hill too met him, she ran faster then she thought she could. He was alive and so was Catherine he was holder her and Beast as well. She couldn't have been happier to see him alive.

Bobby caught up to her fast but she reached Doug first hugging him tight before Bobby got there, she was crying more then anything now. She took Catherine and hugged her niece, that was when she really got a good look at him.

He was drenched from head to toe in blood, his face was red, his once white shirt had no more white on it, his pants, his hands... Everything. It was a horrible sight. God, what he must have gone through, he didn't even acknowledge their presence with him he just stood their staring ahead. He looked traumatized and he probably was now that she thought about it.

She whipped tears out of her eyes as she watched Bobby take Doug's arm and place it around him and he put his arm around Doug. He was still dazed and out of it but he seemed to respond a little more. This was when Brenda took a closer look at him, his one hand was wrapped in something that, like the rest of him, was covered in the crimson blood but it seemed like... Oh God... his finger... it was missing, his finger was cut off. She gasped a little as she took in his injuries. He was near collapsing even with most of his weight on Bobby.

How could he have survived with this much blood loss? That was when she thought that it couldn't all be his, he should be dead if it was, or at least, near death... Not that he wasn't already.

With her attention off somewhere else she didn't notice it when Doug lost his step and fell, his adrenaline rush going away. She heard him grunt and Bobby call to her, looking back she saw him on the ground wincing and Bobby holding him steady. He needed a doctor. Now.

"C'mon Doug, just try and make it to the car then we can clean you up a little." Bobby said and Doug painfully nodded as he hoisted him back up and they proceeded to walk to the car.

Brenda looked around nervously, she could feel herself being watched, that could just her paranoia settling it from what she just went though but you could never be to cautious. She gripped Catherine in her arms tighter and stuck closer to her brother and Doug as they walked closer to the truck.

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**AN:** Yes I know this was short, way short for a normal first chapter for me. But this was just a little blop (yes, blop) of where we left off in the movie. Like I said before if you like this idea and where I'm gonna go with it tell me and I would be more then happy to continue.


	2. Chapter 2

They walked over to the truck; Brenda had to help with Doug a little bit. Bobby was doing all he could but it was as if he had just given up. The sun was still beating down on them but it was getting lower in the sky, they were beginning to wonder if they would be able to leave today. If they did there was no guarantee that they would make it there before the sun set and in Doug's condition... he was in no shape to walk anywhere.

"Come on." Bobby said as he lowered Doug into the truck, the blood from his wife and mother in law still staining the floor a deep red. Bobby set him down in the front seat with his upper body leaning against the back of the seat sideways. "Just stay there, okay?" he said and then walked away to go in the back seat and grab a few things.

Brenda walked up to the seat and placed Catherine down on his lap. He looked down at the infant resting in his lap and moved his arms so he had a better hold of her. He let out a shaky sigh and held his daughter.

"It's okay Doug, we'll get through this, together." She said sitting on the floor in front of the seat.

"Here, I found this." Bobby said walking back up to the front seat carrying an old rag. "I think... I think dad used to it check the oil or something." She said choking on his words a little. "Tell me when I hit a spot it hurts, okay?"

"It all hurts." Doug breathed blinking slowly.

"I know." He responded. "Hang in there." Taking the rag he began wiping the blood off his face and neck, it was really caked on especially in his beard. He didn't want to use any water in fear of wasting it but he figured that they could probably reach the gas station before dark if they left before noon the next day and hopefully their would be some water and food in that store.

"Just use a little water Bobby, we had a bottle each in the back and their still kinda full and mom and dad each had a few in the front. And I – I'm sure dad has a few more... You know dad... he was always... prepared." She said wiping her eyes as a few tears began to fall.

Bobby nodded and took the least filled bottle and began dabbing some of the water on the rag. The second he applied it to Doug's face the blood washed off a little and in seconds the rag was red.

"Do we have any clothes?" Brenda asked not wanting to see Doug in the blood and grime stained clothes he was wearing now.

"No, it was all in the trailer I think." Bobby said and she cursed under her breath.

"S'okay..." Doug said taking the rag away from Bobby, "I'll do it myself." He started taking the rag and washing his own face off with it.

"I'll take Catherine." Brenda offered but Doug gripped his daughter tighter. "Doug, please, you can't do it yourself and carry Catherine, let me help." He hesitated but handed his daughter over to her. "Thank you, Bobby can you hand me that bottle of water, she needs something to drink, even if its not milk its better then nothing."

"Sure." He replied.

They were all silent, not voicing the question they all wanted to know. 'What were they gonna do'? They were in the middle of the desert with a blown up trailer, a busted car a young baby, two teenagers and a man in his twenties so traumatized he could hardly speak.

"We should, um, we should make a fire or something." Bobby said and walked out to the ruins of the trailer.

"Don't go too far, Bobby." Brenda warned her little brother. "Oh God, Doug," She said as she tended to his head wound after handing his daughter back to him. "This is horrible; we need something to stop the bleeding." She was looking around for something to put over the wound but could find nothing so she settled with and old rag that she found in the glove box. They had gotten his face cleaned up pretty much as well as it was going to get. It wad still far from clean and his beard was still red and sticky with blood but at least you could see his in juries better and they could mend them.

Speaking of his wounds now that the blood was gone you could see them better. A large gash on his head was still bleeding and bruises littered his whole face. Brenda wanted to take his shirt off to see if he had any bad bruises and cuts there but he was being difficult.

"Come on, please?" She asked and he shook his head. "We have to get you cleaned up."

"It's fine." He said.

"But I don't know that, and I'm not gonna be happy until I know that your not going to die on me too because you wouldn't let me treat some stuff that you wouldn't let me see." Brenda argued and he didn't say another word to her so she assumed he would let her now. Slowly she reached up and began unbuttoning his shirt, with a few winces from Doug she managed to open it up fully.

His entire chest was covered in a thin layer of blood that soaked through the shirt and purple bruises. "Bobby, could you take Catherine while I clean his chest up?" She was no doctor but she watched enough TV to know that if you left injuries even small cuts, unattended that it could get infected. She wasn't that stupid, besides the blood was unsettling.

"Sure, Brenda." He replied and took Catherine away from Doug so she could get a better look at him. "How is everything?" He asked.

"I don't know, how do you tell if someone has a concussion?" She asked.

"How should I know?" Bobby asked.

"I don't have one." Doug sighed.

"How do you know? You looked like you were certainly hit on the head enough times." Bobby said bouncing the baby in his arms and then placing her in the back seat with a small knitted blanket that was on the seat.

Doug winced. "I don't have one. If I had one wouldn't I forget stuff? And as far as I know... I remember... everything."

"I don't think so..." Brenda said. "I think it depends."

"Well if he does we just won't let him sleep for a few hours, that's what you're supposed to do right? No sleep? Or not a lot?" Bobby asked shrugging and biting his bottom lip.

"Yeah," She said. "Okay, you can't sleep for a while." She said pointing to Doug as she dabbed at a cut on his shoulder. "Bobby, do we have anything to clean the shirt with? Anything we won't be drinking?" She asked.

"I don't think so, sorry Doug, either you go without a shirt or you wear this one."

"I'll wear that, its not too bad, I wore it before with no problem and I can wear it again."

"Okay," Brenda said as she got in the truck and began looking at his back. "You're chest and back don't look that bad, just lots of real little cuts... and some glass I'm scared to try and take out."

"Then don't, we'll wait until we can get to a doctor or have some tweezers or something." Bobby said wondering where Doug got all the small cuts and bits of glass in him.

"You want some water?" Brenda asked him and Doug nodded. She handed it over to him and he drank a little bit slowly wincing. "Does you throat hurt?" He nodded again. "Not surprised, you were running around the desert all day. Hey where's Beast?"

"Um, I let him run around the trailer... he's um, oh over there." Bobby said and pointing to Beast sniffing and poking around the remains of the trailer.

"Alright, don't let him wander around too far. And did you get any fire stuff?" She asked.

"Yeah, I found some salvageable wood for it. But we used all the matches." He trailed off.

"I have my lighter." Doug said and they nodded.

"Wait," Brenda said holding her hand up. "Why do you have a lighter?"

"I um, I," he stumbled over his words.

"Do you still smoke?" Brenda said, she thought he had quit when he and Lynn got married. In fact everyone thought he quit, if her father was alive he would have his head and so would Lynn.

"Yeah, and I really need a cigarette now." He said rocking back and forth a little.

"No! No, you don't." Brenda said angry that he was still smoking. Looking at Bobby and Doug she realized that she yelled. "I'm sorry, God, this just sucks." She said and put her face in her hands.

"I know." Bobby said and walked over to hug her.

There was a silence between them until she spoke up again. "It's just how can you still smoke? You told Lynn that you stopped, you told my mom, my dad. Hell you told EVERYBODY!"

"I know, I know... but it's hard." He said rubbing his temples.

Brenda moaned and walked away wandering over to the wreckage. She looked up and spotted Beast looking at something in the distance growling and barking quietly. "Oh God... Oh no, please no." She said and ran back to the truck. "Doug! Bobby!" She cried.

"What? What happened? What is it!?" Bobby asked immediately up and by his sister's side.

"It's Beast, he barking at something and I can't see what it is." She said.

Doug paled considerably and stood up. "Say here and watch Catherine." He said and started walking away.

"Wait! Doug no." Bobby said holding Brenda back and stepping forward to him. "You can't go alone."

"Beast is over there." Doug compensated pointing over to the barking dog.

Bobby shook his head. "That's not good enough, um, over there... when we blew up the trailer, Brenda used the axe and killed the guy... it should still be in his head."

Doug's eyes widened by the fact that Brenda killed one of them with an axe but then nodded and walked over to where Bobby was pointing being sure to keep his eyes open for any movement around him and the direction that Beast was barking in. That was where the threat must have been coming from. In the beginning of the trip he would probably have said for the dog just to shut up, but now he knew better.

He walked over to the spot and he saw it, wincing and pulling a face he saw the axe sticking out of the head of the mutant. He pulled it out making a little blood spit out and walked over to Beast who was still barking in the same direction.

"What's wrong, Beast?" He murmured as he stepped along side the dog.

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AN: Yeah I know bad place to end but it leaves some suspense for the next chapter. And don't expect every update to be this fast, this is just a fresh story with fresh ideas, most of my stories only get updates one or two times a month. (But now that it's almost summer break maybe we'll get once a week or so) There is no chance of a Doug and Brenda romance so don't get any ideas, I'm not a romance kind of person. Thanks too my readers for, well, reading and keep it up and keep the reviews coming.


	3. Chapter 3

Gripping the axe tightly in his hands he scanned the area for anything for what seemed like forever. Like hell these freaks were gonna get his family again. When he was about to walk back the dog turned and perked his ears up and began running in the opposite direction.

His adrenaline rush seemed to come back full speed as he ran back to the truck. When he arrived he saw that there was no trouble, Bobby, Brenda and Catherine were just fine but Beast was still barking in that general area. He whipped his head around to try and find the source of the dogs barking but he found nothing, but he learned from his experience that didn't mean a thing.

"Oh God..." Brenda said putting her hand to her face and looking around with tears welling in her eyes. "Their back... their back..." She moaned over and over again.

"Shut up." Doug hissed at her and she tried to stop her crying and moaned as she buried her face in her brother's shirt. He narrowed his eyes as he looked down and bent to look under the car, he didn't want to have his sight leave the kids but he had to check. Thankfully he saw no moving shadows or anything out of the ordinary under the car or on the other side but the space he had to look only gave you so much information.

"Get in the car." He said to them, "Stay away from the windows and down and keep down out of sight."

Bobby nodded and began to help his sister into the back of the truck. He winced and bit his bottom lip at the dried blood that lingered on the bottom of the car from their missing sister and mother. "Where are you going?" he asked Doug in a hushed voice.

"I don't know." He answered and then began walking out and away from the truck his hands planted firmly on the axe ready to swing. He looked back to make sure they were safe, for the moment and then looked in the direction Beast was barking in. It was toward the hills he had just come from.

There was next to no sound in the desert as he walked, except for the barking of the dog. His feet hardly made any noise and his breathing was almost too quiet. He knew these guys were stealthy but this was an uncomfortable, deathly silence.

Just then he heard a scream from back at the truck. He turned his head and began running without a second thought. Looking back at the truck he saw it shake and Brenda's high screaming erupt from it. Beast was already well past him running at full speed but Doug wasn't that far behind.

He managed to catch a sight of Bobby leaving the vehicle and stumbling out falling on his face in the sand with blood was visible on his shirt. Brenda was next, tightly holding Catherine to her chest who was crying and screaming like a banshee. Doug pumped his legs faster, it hurt like hell to run like this but the way he saw it, he had no choice in the matter.

Beast reached the truck first and ran around to the other side to attack an unknown creature. Doug reached them quicker now that they were running toward him and he stopped. "What is it!?" he asked in a haste.

"I – I don't know," Bobby stammered. "I didn't see, it just broke the glass a – and it reached in."

"Okay, okay, calm down." Doug said too them as the two siblings embraced one another to try and calm each other down. "Stay here, yell if you see or hear anything, okay?" He said and Bobby managed to nod. He hated to leave them once again defenseless but he had no other choice he didn't know how many there were or if Beast could handle them. He's seen what these mutants could withstand and a dog may not be able to kill them.

He crept around the truck to see Beast getting thrown back and away from the mutant who was attacking them. He was tall, not as tall as Pluto but he was still incredibly threatening. His eyes looked odd, like they were uneven on his face and his nose was upward and melded into this right cheek slightly. His neck had a gash on it and his shoulder as well, probably from Beast because it was still bleeding.

But that didn't make Doug hesitate in the slightest bit, he charged at the mutant with his axe high in the air. Before he could even reach the mutant he stepped forward to Doug and his axe making Doug surprised slightly because of the short distance that was now between them and he was forced to stop short before he could swing. But, before he could swing the mutant threw this hand out and slapped Doug backward.

Doug winced as he stood back up and picked the axe up with him, he never let it go. Straitening up he looked over at the mutant who was now charging at him like a feral animal and this time he was ready. He raised the axe and swung out wide so that there was no way he could reach him when the axe hit. And lucky for him his strategy worked he slashed the mutant across the stomach.

He stumbled back and look up at the mutant who was now holding his stomach, but that didn't seem to stop him, he looked back up at Doug and let out a hoarse, dry, menacing laugh and attacked again. Doug figured this would happen, these mutants could withstand anything he threw at them before and he didn't expect them to be any different now. He stood ready with the axe and waited for the mutant to get close enough. When he did Doug tried to side step and then get him in the back with the axe. Unfortunately for him, this didn't work as he planned.

The mutant saw this coming and turned around when Doug stepped aside and before he could swing the axe into his stomach the mutant punched him square in the stomach making him fall back onto the ground. The force of his fall made him loosen his grip on the axe and make it slide a few feet behind him. A little panicked that he lost his only weapon Doug crawled back to try and get it back but he wasn't quick enough. The mutant kicked his legs out making him fall back down aggravating the pain in his ribs and he yelled out when this happened.

The mutant walked around and kicked the axe far away so there was no way Doug could reach it now. The mutant grabbed his neck and pulled him up, although Doug was still not yet standing, his knees were only a few inches off the ground making it hard to stand in any position. He punched Doug in the face making blood pour out of his nose and a sickening cracking noise was heard.

He dropped him and watched for a few seconds as Doug scrambled to his feet to try and get back to his weapon. He failed. The mutant was on his before he even got close to it. Holding Doug up by his hair he turned back around and started walking a way from the axe dragging him. He pulled Doug up and held his fist back ready to punch again when the axe came full force hitting him in the back of the neck. He dropped him to the ground as he reached back holding the large gash in his neck.

Doug looked up from his place on the ground to see Bobby holding the axe in his hands, shaking. He got up and ran at the mutant from behind but was stopped in his steps but Brenda who came from behind him. He tried to get out of her grasp but she yelled at him to stop, he looked up at Bobby and the mutant approaching him only to see Beast out of the corner of his eyes attacking the mutant in the neck where he was before. Only this time he must have hit a vain because blood was gushing out of the open wound at an incredible speed.

Bobby took this moment to run up and plant the axe in the mutant's forehead dead on killing him. He backed away from the dead body and looked up to where Doug was standing with Brenda. "Shit..." He murmured.

"Where's Catherine?" Doug asked looking between the two.

"She's in the truck, perfectly safe." Brenda said and helped him walked around the truck too see his daughter. He picked her up and hugged her to his chest thankful that she was safe.

"What are we gonna do with it?" Bobby asked referring to the dead mutant on the other side of the truck.

"Are you sure it's dead?" Doug asked.

"Yeah, I got it with an axe in the head." Bobby said.

"That doesn't mean a thing." Doug said remembering how he shot Lizard in the neck and he still managed to get up and try to kill him again. "Let me look, hold her." He said handing Catherine off to Brenda and got up slowly moving his way around the truck.

He looked around the truck and saw the mutant still lying on the ground with the axe still in his head. Doug walked to him slowly watching each step he took, when he reached the mutant he looked down at him, he appeared dead, didn't look like he was breathing but there was only one way to be sure. He kneeled down on his knees and pulled the axe out of his head but to be sure he had a weapon and stood back up, he took a few paces back and slammed the axe down once again in the head before taking it out again. If he wasn't dead before, he was now.

Walking back around he saw the teenagers holding Catherine bouncing her and trying to calm her down. "Doug, look at your nose." Brenda said handing Catherine off to Bobby. "I think it's broken." He said examining it and taking the bloodied rag and dabbing at it.

"Wouldn't be surprised." He said and touched it with his finger tips. "Ow..." 

"Yeah, ow." Brenda said and put the rag back on it. "The bleeding should stop soon. How's your legs? You were limping."

Was he? He didn't even realize. "Um, fine, I guess." Doug said.

"What are we gonna do with him?" Bobby said pointing to the other side of the truck.

"I guess we have to get rid of him, drag him away somewhere." Doug said.

"Oh what fun that'll be." Bobby muttered. "I'll go work on the fire." He said and walked away out into the ruins of the trailer once again.

Doug made sure to keep a sharp eye on him, never letting him out of his sight. In face until they were safe back home away from this place he was never going to let any of the kids out of his sight again. Though they have proved they could take care of themselves he owed it to Big Bob, Ethel and Lynn. As his thoughts raced back to his wife he had to take a deep shaky breath to prevent him from breaking down.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and look back up at Brenda who was still dabbing at his cuts. "Your nose looks all funny." She commented as she stared at it.

"Thanks." Doug replied in a monotone staring at her.

"Oh no, dammit, no I didn't mean it like that I just mean it needs medical attention, is all."

"Unlike the rest of me which doesn't?"

She folded her arms and looked down at him sitting in the truck. "Stop it."

"Hey Doug!?" They heard Bobby yell as he began walking closer form a pile of wood. "How about that lighter, man?"

"Yeah." Doug said and reached in his pocket taking out a lighter with blood stained on it. "Here," He tossed it too him wincing at the motion in his sore arm.

In a couple seconds some small splinters caught and began lighting the rest of the wood on fire. They stared at the fire for a very long time and watched as Bobby took a seat down next to it. After a couple hours went by of them in dead silence Bobby came up to Doug and suggested that they move the body of the mutant behind the truck. At least the other dead one was a little further away, but with this one this close they were all a little uncomfortable.

They moved it as far away as they dare walk behind trailed by Beast the entire time and then came back to Brenda and Catherine who were in the truck, not wanting to be out of it alone. When they came back they sat around the fire for a little longer.

They didn't know what time it was, Doug's watch had stopped working a little while ago but he assumed that it was time to put Catherine down. Or he knew it was well past the time he normally would but it was taking a while for her to get sleepy tonight. They decided to sleep in shifts, just in case. Bobby offered to take the first one for a few hours and then he would wake up Brenda and then Doug, they both agreed that he needed the most rest out of all of them.

Standing a stick up in the dirt Bobby concluded that when the moonlight hit a certain spot in the sky his shift would be over and the next would begin, that would be how they were going to have to tell time. They all went in the car and Bobby stayed by the fire with the axe in his hands just in case anything happened.

They would have to wait until morning to make their next move.

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AN: There we go. Another chapter done and finished. I hope ya'll like this one I tried not to speed through the fight thing (I tend to do that sometimes, ya know there's only so much you can write about it without it dragging on!) but I think I did a good job. Now review cuz ya know I love it when I get those, it makes me write faster! So stay tuned for another update hopefully soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Morning came quicker then they all expected, Doug being that he had the last watch was the first to be up. He was poking at the now small fire with a stick, making the embers glow and light ashes float up. They had nothing to eat, only water to last them the day and hopefully when they reached the gas station there they would find some food and if their luck would hold, a car.

The sun was rising higher and higher so Doug decided that it was time to wake the kids up. He walked over to them, Bobby first, he nudged his shoulder and the boy blinks his eyes slowly a few time and then once hard before sitting up.

"Morning already?" Bobby asked yawning.

"Yeah, go wake your sister up, we better get moving soon if we want to be there before dark." Doug said as he walked over to his daughter picker her up trying not to wake her.

Bobby crawled over to Brenda, he gave her a light shake on the arm and said her name softly. Her eyes shot open and she screamed as she began lashing out at him. "Brenda! Brenda! It's just me, it's just me, Bobby!" he said trying to get her under control.

She thrashed about for another minute or so as Bobby kept saying her name and trying to calm her down. Finally her breathing be came easy and she looked at Bobby with scared eyes. "Bobby?" She asked. "Oh God, oh I'm sorry, I guess... I – I was just having a bad dream... I guess." She said putting her hand to her head. "Oh God." She moaned.

Doug stayed by the fire rocking his now awake daughter in his arms. "You're not the only one." He said looking at Catherine.

The siblings came over and took a seat near the fire that was not almost completely out. He handed them a bottle of water. "Try not to drink too much; we don't have a lot left." He said and the two each took a couple sips out of the bottle.

"When should we start to leave?" Bobby asked.

"I don't know." He replied. "I guess now is a good as time as any."

But they didn't leave then, they sat staring at the fire for almost ten minutes until Doug finally stood up and called Beast. The dog came running over with his tongue hanging out, tail wagging and he was panting. At least someone was in a good mood.

The first twenty minutes of the walk was in pure dead silence, except for the soft beat of Brenda's ipod which she found still in the seat of the truck during the night. But she was dangerously low on batteries.

Every now and then they would see Doug flinch at nothing or turn his head around startling them. But it was always nothing, but you really couldn't blame him for being a little paranoid. But His paranoia certainly did not help anyone, whenever he flinched it caused one of the teens to flinch and when they flinched the other flinched. This chain reaction slowly them down immensely, because whenever they flinched they would almost come to a stop and look around and it would take a good few seconds for them to gain the proper speed once more.

They walked for the longest time, only stopping once when Catherine began crying and Doug had to try and get her to drink some of the water. He succeeded but it took a lot of coaxing from her father to calm her down again. But lucky for them that was the only stop they had to make and the rest of the way was thankfully uneventful.

The sun was getting low in the sky again after a while as they walked, Doug began to worry that they wouldn't make it to the gas station before it was gone and they couldn't walk at night. Nights in the desert were bone chilling cold; they wouldn't survive, not in the condition they were in. He also started to worry that they had walked in the wrong direction, but he also knew that wasn't possible, he had walked that way and it was a dead end. But around this place you never knew.

Finally after what seemed like an endless day of walking they spotted the gas station on the horizon, the small shop and gas pumps just peeking over the road. Doug gave a sigh of relief and Brenda was the first of the two to look up ahead of the, she cried out and smiled, long ago her ipod had run out of batteries and she was on the verge of a breakdown. Bobby then saw it and she laughed.

"Let's just hope they have a working car up there." He said.

"Don't jinx us." Brenda said and hit him lightly on the arm.

They walked up to it just as the horizon began turning a pink color with the setting sun.

"We should stop here for the night." Doug said, "get some food, God I hope they have some."

"I'm sure they do, that old guy lives here, right?" Brenda said as they approached the gas station.

"Yeah... Jesus, I hope we don't have the pleasure of running into him." Bobby said .

They heard Doug gasp from a few yards away. "Um... I – I don't think we really have to worry about that." he stuttered pointing to the outhouse, there was no body, but there was blood all over the walls and a pool at the bottom with obvious drag marks leading out.

"Oh my God." Brenda said looking over and covering her mouth.

"Shit..."

Doug and Brenda turned form the outhouse where they eyes were transfixed and looked to Bobby who walked away from the gruesome sight only to run into another. "What is it?" Doug asked.

"Looks like Big Bob made it here after all." He said his voice betraying him as tremors racked trough his body.

They looked at one of the cars, it had blood stains on the seat and the front windshield was broken and like the seats covered in blood. Brenda began to cry as she saw the blood all over the car.

"How do we know its Big Bob's?" Doug asked in a quiet voice.

"Well the old guy died over there, there's no way he could have git hurt here and made his way over there... not with that much blood gone..." Bobby said and they all stared at the car for another minute, Doug keeping Catherine's face in his shirt to prevent more horrors entering her mind.

Doug couldn't take the sight any longer and walked away, it was just to horrible for him too see. Over the past couple days he had seen too much for an entire lifetime, and entire lifetime of ten people. Bobby and Brenda noticed his absence and saw him walking to the store and they followed him, when they walked in the small jingle noise from the door was the only sound and then their tired heavy footsteps on the hollow wooden floor.

They all smiled at the sight of the supplies that they now hard, now all they had to do was pray that one of the cars was working. Because, if it didn't then they were trapped out here with absolutely no way out. They just happen to be lucky that they ran into this gas station, they hadn't seen any other civilization for several hours of driving.

"Okay, so here we have some food, some water, we're good." Doug said. "Here, Brenda, can you hold her." He asked handing Catherine off to his sister-in-law.

He walked out to the first car, avoiding the one covered in blood and opened the door. He sat down inside and first looked around for a set of keys. There were none. "Damn, he said to himself and looked over to Bobby. "Bobby checked the other car for keys." Bobby checked real quick around the inside of the car. "None?"

Bobby shook his head. "No..." He moved the hood and opened it, "this one won't work either, looks like he used it just for parts, batteries gone... no oil... no nothing... looks like... how about that one?"

"I dunno." Dou said from the inside. "I can't find any keys."

"What about everything else?" He asked walking over.

"C'mon, man," Doug sighed as he moved out of the car. "You know me..."

"Okay fine," Bobby moved to the hood and popped it. He looked around for about five minutes all the while Doug praying that it was suitable to drive. Finally after making a few circles around the car Bobby came back and nodded. "This one looks like it's been driven, its old I wouldn't buy it even for parts, but by all rights it should start." 

"But we have no key."

"What about that crossing wires thing." Brenda said and the boys turned. "You know, you always see some guy crossing wires."

"Yeah," Bobby nodded. "Yeah, I know how to cross wires, Big Bob showed me once."

"Okay... good... c'mon guys, its late, the suns down we should get inside." Doug said taking Catherine back and walking toward the store.

Brenda winced and held her stomach. "Can we eat something first, I'm really, really, hungry."

Doug nodded. "Uh huh."

They walked inside and Brenda found something to satisfy her hunger and took it back to the others, Bobby enjoyed eating the bag of chips with her. He hadn't realized just hoe hungry he was, and Doug too, they all hadn't realized how hungry they really were until they saw the bag of food. Lucky for Catherine too, in the back there was a refrigerator he found a half filled gallon of milk, he was so thankful for his young daughter to get something other then water.

After their sorry excuse for dinner they used some of the thin blankets in the store and made a small bed for themselves. Since they were able to lock the door and they were inside they decided they did not need a watchmen for the night. They wee all asleep within minutes, all of the together.

AN: This was short and uneventful, sorry. I don't know if this story is gonna last much longer. It depends, three more chapters' tops. But thanks for reviewing; this little I didn't think this little nagging thought would actually get reviews. Well thanks for the reviews and I'll get the next chapter up ASAP.


	5. Chapter 5

Their morning was long and uneventful. Bobby gave the car one last long look over, it seemed in fine condition to drive. They used some of the jugs of water they found to wash themselves off. Doug, especially, was thankful to have the dried blood finally all off him. He even managed to find some clothes. None of the pants fit him but he did get a new button up shirt. Wasn't exactly his style but right now he wasn't one to complain.

They also found some medical supplies and they were able to clean Doug's various wounds properly. In fact they even realized the extent of them, he should be hospitalized and they figured that it was pure adrenaline that was making him go now. Brenda had offered to drive the car, but Doug declined and insisted he do it while Bobby held Catherine beside him. He never wanted his daughter out of his sight ever again.

At around eleven o'clock in the morning Bobby went up to the car, opening the door he got in and bent down. With a screw driver he popped open part of the car and began fiddling with several wires.

"Don't blow us up." Brenda said pacing around the car with her arms folded.

"Wouldn't dream of it." He replied and a couple minutes later they heard the familiar roar of the engine, it sounded as though it was in need of a muffler and probably wouldn't pass inspection in a thousand years but the car started and for that they were grateful.

"Scoot over, Bobby," Doug said sliding into the driver's seat. "Come on Brenda, find beast and get in."

"I am," she said and walked over to the door. "Beast!" She yelled out and whistled. A few seconds later a large dog came bounding around the corner of the store and jumping into the open back door of the car.

"We have everything?" Doug asked looking around the car.

"Yeah, food, water, extra gas, everyone here, pretty much all we need." Bobby responded bouncing the young girl in his arms trying to get her to fall asleep. They didn't want to wake her up but they had no choice, she was filthy and Doug didn't want to see the blood lingering on her from him holding her so close when he was drenched in it.

"Okay, guys, hang on." He said.

"Hang on... why – ah!" Brenda cried out as Doug sped out of the gas station.

"I wanna get the hell out of this place and as far away as possible." Doug explained as he went down the road at an incredibly high speed.

"I completely agree." Bobby muttered as he stared out the window at the familiar scene he saw when they were making their way up to the God forsaken gas station.

They drove for hours only needing to stop once to change Catherine, there wasn't enough room inside the car. They filled up the gas tank before they left so they figured they could go on for a while without having to put their extra gas in.

Since they stopped there was nothing but silence when they were on the road, Catherine never even made a sound. All you could hear was the horrible sound of the car, the dusty dirt covered road beneath the tires of the car, and occasionally the sigh of one of the passengers trying not to think of the worst possible thing that could happen or everything that had just happened.

Brenda leaned her head against the window feeling the cool glass against her forehead and looked around her. She tried not to think of her mother, her father or her sister but she couldn't help it. Now she should have been in her bathing suit tanning or talking to some guys at the local hang out but not here. Not this, she felt like she might cry again as she thought about all the things she said to them during their last hours. The snide comments the rude remarks the looks, but she was a teenager, she couldn't help it right?

None of this should be happening, but not all was lost, she still had her brother, her brother in law, her niece and her dog. Upon thinking about Beast she smiled, reached over and petted the panting dog behind the ears. Then she thought about Beauty, she missed her she wondered if Beast missed her too. Could he tell that she was gone forever? Were dogs capable of that? She didn't know and the only reason these thoughts were racing through her mind as because she didn't want to think about reality.

Lifting her head up she looked at Doug and her brother, both of them looked so tough and sure. How could they do that? Or rather, how could men in general do that? They just sat there no emotions played across their face, nothing. On the other hand she knew that if either of them looked back their first instinct would be to give her a hug or tell her everything would be alright. How could they act so heartless when she knew for a fact they weren't?

As she quickly got lost in her thoughts she became so zoned out that when the radio clicked on she gave a out a short scream making both men turn around quickly to her and the baby make a whimpering noise.

"The radio..." She murmured. "It's on its working that means we have a signal! We have a signal!" She cried excitedly.

"So what does..." Bobby asked helplessly.

"It means my phone has a signal too, I think this is where I lost my signal too, I remember that dirt." Doug said reaching into his pocket while trying to keep his eyes on the road, he didn't need to crash a break the axel now. "Here, Brenda take my phone, call the cops or something."

"What do I tell them." She asked taking the phone from him and flipping it open.

"I don't know!" Doug said.

"We can't tell them the truth; they'd think we're crazy." Bobby said.

"We could, we could tell them all about it make them go out there and find that place." Brenda said still clutching the phone.

"No, no we can't it's to weird, just say that... um... that we had a propane tank in the trailer and it exploded or something, uh, when we lost control of the car and were forced off the road, thus breaking the axel." Doug quickly began to make up. "Big Bob tried to go back and the crazy guy at the gas station attacked him and then killed himself, we assume that he, uh ya know, dumped the body first since it's not there. Coyote or something got the other... bodies..." He chocked on the word, it just didn't seem right o call his wide and mother and father in law bodies. Like they were nothing.

"Okay, okay, that's the story, yeah it holds truth." Brenda said and dialed 911 on the cell phone.

Brenda called the police and told them the quick notes version of the story, almost breaking down into tears as she was forced to recall what happened. "Where are we?" She repeated. "I, uh, I don't know, we're trying to go back the way we came but it's kind of the middle of no where... tracking? I... I don't know... Doug?"

"Yeah, yeah, my cell phone has a tracking device on it; they should be able to find us." He quickly replied as he pressed on the gas petal harder.

"I hope they find us soon, it's getting dark and I don't like it here at night." Bobby admitted and they looked around, it was true, they had been driving non stop all day, it certainly didn't feel like they were.

Turns out they weren't far from the next town, only about another hour and with the police speeding down to them. Soon they saw the a couple police cars bearing down on them. Doug stopped the car when he could see them clearing and parked it. He put his arms on the steering wheel and placed his head on his arms, he just waited for them to come.

In a couple minutes the door beside him opened and a man helped him out, telling him it would all be alright and they were going to get some medical attention. On the phone Brenda had told them that he was near the trailer then it exploded and that a lot of the debris had hit him causing a lot of injuries.

Doug hardly heard what any f them were saying as he was helped onto a stretcher and placed in an ambulance. He refused to let Catherine out of his sight though, they wouldn't let him hold her while he was being examined but Brenda took her and she and Bobby rode along side him in the ambulance. Normally only one person was going to be allowed next to him but this was different.

He fell asleep quickly in the car, his adrenaline completely gone and the full effect of his injuries taking their part. It was confirmed he had a couple broken ribs, they weren't sure about internal bleeding but they figured that since he had survived this long without medical attention that there was none. Brenda got some praise for fixing up his cuts right away, and the paramedics did say that he did have a minor concussion.

Beast was placed in the police car, a little on edge about being separated from his owners but he warmed up to the police officers. They gave him some water and coaxed him to stop barking and growling at the potential threats. But after a while he stopped and fell asleep in the back seat.

When Doug would wake up again he would find himself in the hospital, with two children by his sides holding a young baby.

AN: Not the last chapter I swear but I can say that the next one will be arriving soon if it's not the one after this. Its weird all my stories are ending at once, I have another that that only has one chapter left too. And once again I'm sorry it's so short but ya know I try and it is winding down. Also apologies for the long wait but if you pay attention to my other stories you'll note they weren't being updated until recently either, that's because I went away to Summer Leadership School, SLS or for those who prefer, junior boot camp for the JROTC, yeah for those of you know who know that means I'm an Air Force (regrettably not Navy) ROTC what?! You wanna start something!? Okay I'm done with that pointless drabble now, I'll try and update quick now that I'm home, I love the reviews you give and I'll see ya next update!


	6. Chapter 6

Doug regained his consciousness and tried to move in his bed. Only realizing that it hurt too much to move, he wanted to open his eyes but he knew he was in a hospital and in his experience hospital rooms were white and being, what he assumed was, the middle of the day it would hurt to open them right now. He tried to listen to the hushed voices around him but that proved to be to difficult, they apparently were paying attention to him or else they would have figured out he was awake by now.

He moaned to gather their attention and he heard chairs move and people rush around him. "Doug? Man, you okay?" It was Bobby, he was on his left side and then he felt the bed get pushed down on his right side.

"Are you awake?" Brenda had sat on the edge of his bed, she sounded concerned.

"Yeah," he tried to reply but the sound wasn't his own voice. It didn't even sound like he said anything. It sounded like his throat was coated in sand paper.

"Don't try to talk." Brenda said, "I'll get you some water first, Bobby could you raise his bed up a little?" She asked and her brother complied.

He tried opening his eyes and found that he had to squint them for some time before he could look around with them fully open. He murmured thanks when he took the water from Brenda and began drinking it, it felt so good to have cold water running down his throat.

"I'll go get the doctor." Bobby said and walked out of the room.

"How are you feeling?" Brenda asked.

"Fine... How long have I been asleep?" He asked taking in that she and her brother looked fully rested new clothes, band-aids and bandages when they needed them, and he on the other hand felt like he only passed out five minutes ago.

"It's been two days, you been unconscious the entire time." She explained. "Me and Bobby got released yesterday, they let us go home that day but I don't know about it now. Since what happened too... since what happened we have no family close by. They might put us in a shelter until we can go to our grandparents and they're two states away!"

Doug was ready to reply but the doctor walked in followed quickly by Bobby.

"You're awake, finally we were starting to worry, Mr. Bukowski. I'm Doctor Darcy if you don't mind Sir, I'd just like to run a few tests make sure you're functioning alright."

Doug nodded and let the doctor do an examination. He didn't necessarily like all the tests they were doping, particularly the one with the light in his already sensitive eyes. But after a few tests the doctor wrote a few things down on a clip board at the end of his bed and gave him a smile. "You seem to be fine, Sir, but I think we'd like to keep you a few more days, just to monitor you, let your ribs heal more, make sure you don't have a relapse or anything."

"Yeah, sure." Doug said wanting the doctor to leave so he could talk to his family alone.

"I'll be back later to check up on you." He smiled and walked out of the room.

When the door closed Doug turned to the children hastily. "So... what?" He asked.

"We're going to get sent away, Doug we don't want to go to our grandparents," Bobby said. "Brenda's not old enough yet to be considered an adult."

Doug was then reminded that Brenda had just turned seventeen before they left. She wasn't yet of age and therefore couldn't take her brother in. "Well what about me? Don't I get any custody?" he asked.

"No, mom and dad left us to grandma and grandpa, they meant to change it when you and Lynn got married but you know... they weren't expecting to go... so soon... so they never did." Brenda explained. "We don't want to go live with our grandparents, we want to go with you."

Doug raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well, because you were there, you get it, I know we haven't always been that nice to you but you married our sister! You're our brother in law, it's our job!" Bobby exclaimed.

"We wanna live with you... Would you mind?" Brenda asked.

"Of course not." Doug sighed and looked at their pleading faces. "Don't worry; I'll talk to the guy or whatever okay? It'll all get sorted out I promise you." Then a thought dawned on him. "Where's Catherine?" he asked sitting up agitating his ribs but he didn't really care at the moment.

"She's fine, she's fine, she's in the infant ward. She's fine, they looked her over and all they said there's no damage." Bobby replied quickly making Doug sigh in relief.

Doug sighed and laid back in the bed wincing now at the pain the movement caused his ribs. "This right out sucks." He breathed through gritted teeth.

"You're telling us." Bobby smirked.

They spent the remainder of the day reminiscing on good times, the child services came to the hospital that evening to get the children and take them to their foster home while their grandparents were being alerted and coming. Their grandfather was having some medical problems; they wouldn't make it for a few days.

When they came in the room that was when Doug confronted them.

"Can't they just stay with me?" Doug asked them as the teenagers left the room to go down to the cafeteria to get some food real quick while they all talked.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bukowski, but according to the will of their parents legally they can't stay with you unless something happens to their grandparents or they refuse custody." The man responded.

"Well then can I talk to them? What if they said I could take them?" Doug knew they probably wouldn't allow it. They hated him, and not the way Big Bob had where he secretly liked him and just always gave him a real hard time they truly hated him. They thought he was the worst kind of person out there; they even didn't like Big Bob all that much. Doug came to a conclusion all the men the woman married they hated.

"You could try; Sir, but I would not get my hopes up for you. And if it comes down to a custody hearing the grandparents will win over the unrelated brother-in-law." He said giving him a sympathetic smile.

"He is related!" Came a voice from the doorway, it was Brenda she was holding a styrofoam cup of coffee. "He may not be related by blood but he married my big sister! And I like him, so that makes him related! That makes him family! And just because some piece of paper says we can't stay with him does not mean we're going to abide by that." She said and stood by the side of the bed.

Bobby followed his sister and stood by the bed as well.

"I'm sorry, kids, but your not old enough to decide for your –" They cut him off.

"We're not kids," Bobby said. "We've seen more in our lives then you have! I don't think we can be considered _kids_ anymore."

"I'm sorry but you can't –"

"Don't tell us what we can and can't do!" Brenda yelled the heated conversation hurt Doug's head but he let it continue, not only was it amusing to watch but it helped his chances of getting Brenda and Bobby. Her voice then calmed and she spoke to the man like an adult. "Now, I will talk to my grandparents when they get here, they'll agree to the terms, they can't say not o us. The papers will get changed and Dou can be our legal guardians, in the meantime we'll go with you, but we're coming back tomorrow." She said firmly.

The man nodded not wanting to create any more of a scene then they already had. "Fine, now if you'll come with us, we'll take you to the shelter for the night."

Brenda nodded wishing she was just one year older. "Bye, Doug." She said leaning down and giving him a hug. 'I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Bobby said waving. "Bye."

"Bye." Doug said and watched them as they walked out of the room.

Doug laid in his bed the rest of the night, only falling asleep when it became very dark and very late. His dreams were filled with the horrors he witnessed over the past few days, the death of his family... his wife. And other dreams were filled with the death of his daughter, of Brenda or Bobby. Then not escaping the mutants in time before they killed everyone else.

He woke with a jolt out of these dreams with a doctor lingering over him with a worried face. "Are you alright, Sir?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just a nightmare." Doug said fidgeting.

"Perfectly normal, after what I understand you've been through. Are you feeling alright? Any aches or pains?" Doug told him exactly what hurt and the doctor nodding understanding. "Well that's to be expected, but from what I can see you're not going to relapse into a coma, you look like your recovering fine."

"Great..." Doug drawled out.

The doctor went over a few more things as Doug listened absent mindedly. His mind was on other things, things about how they would cope now that they knew they were perfectly safe. How he would live as a singe father with two teenagers, hopefully, in his home. How was everything going to work out? Was it even going to work out at all?

"Sir, Sir? Are you alright?" The doctor asked snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Uh, yeah, yeah I'm fine." He quickly recovered.

"You heard everything I said?" he asked.

"Yes, of course." He said lying through his teeth.

"Alright then, I'll be back later." The doctor said and left the room.

The rest of the day was spent with the teenagers, they stayed by his side all day and they even had a nurse bring Catherine in and he was able to spend a couple hours with her before she had to go back in the ward.

It wasn't for another few days that he was able to talk to their grandparents, they did not want to give up their custody over the children and Doug seriously thought he would lose this battle and therefore not be able to keep his promise that it would all be okay to them. But as they were about o leave the room to see them they came in and once again walked to Doug's side to stand by him. They told their grandparents that they weren't leaving with them no matter what they said.

They had a private conversation with them and finally agreed to let Doug take the custody. He could tell they still didn't want to but they couldn't deny their grandchildren what they wanted if they wanted it that badly. They knew that's what they really wanted, and it did no harm really, so they just gave in and promised that they would do check ups on them.

They told Doug the good news and the celebrated together for the rest of the day. Their grandparents stayed in town until Doug was released so the teens could have a place to stay. But the day he got released they left town biding the children goodbye and hardly saying a word to Doug.

Leaving the hospital Brenda and Bobby were on either side of Doug as he walked with a limp making sure he didn't fall, but he insisted on carrying his own daughter. He let Brenda drive back to his house telling her the way, she wasn't a horrible driver it was still scarier then any mutant though.

She pulled up the driveway and they stepped out to the two story house and looked around. "Go pick a room." Doug said and waved the children off, his family was by no means pour, this house was his before his parents moved out and went down to Florida so he got it for free and there was a considerable amount of free space in it that Lynn had no idea what to do with it.

Brenda and Bobby both ran off to pick their rooms in the house with excitement.

"And don't take mine!" Doug yelled after them as he walked in the house and his smile immediately left his face as he saw the pictures of him, his daughter and his wife everywhere.

He frowned and looked down to the little girl he was cradling in his arms, he got out of this with her. He got out with his brother and sister in laws... now that was all that mattered.

AN: And its all over, I'm glad I got this story off my chest. It was bugging me for the longest time and I probably won't write more. This was a one time fic thing. But I thank you all for reading and reviewing and all that crap. You guys really helped keep this story going. Uh, if any of you read my others fics my any chance I'll update those soon, or that one... I kinda finished all my fics in one big wave. Was weird, started different times, very different lengths and they all finished within a week of one another. I just have one left and it will be longer... a lot longer.

But anyway, thanks for reading thanks for everything and if you read anything else or I post anything else here I'll see ya later, if not... oh well...


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